The United Nations has proposed Sustainable Development Goals, (SDGs 2015- 2030) for the peaceful, prosperous present and the future of the stakeholder countries. These include 17 goals to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, besides tackling climate change by 2030. It may be recalled that there are about 2 billion youth (between 10–24 years of age) globally, out of which about 90% belong to the developing world. Young people have the potential, energy and drive to bring in the transformation in the social patterns and the policy initiatives. Empowerment of the youth with necessary skills becomes a major objective under the SDGs, to make the world a better place to live.
Projections On Employment
In this context, the UN projections for the next decade also foresee that “At least 475 million new jobs need to be created to absorb the currently unemployed 73 million youth and the 40 million new annual entrants to the labour market.” The picture becomes more complex when these projections are seen under the light of the surveys conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, (OECD) which states that the employers consider that many graduates are ill-prepared for the world of work. This feeling is shared by the youth as well, who consider themselves to be underprepared for the job market.
The Indian Perspective
The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) report states higher unemployment in the urban areas (7.8%) in comparison to rural parts (5.3%). Unemployment is higher among urban females (27.2%) in comparison to urban males (18.7%). It further states that out of 470 million people of working age in India, only 10% receive formal training or access to skilled employment opportunities. There seems to be a huge gap between the demand and supply when it comes to skilled workforce and employment opportunities. This situation may prove to be detrimental to the national economy in the long run. Latest statistics reveal that this gap is widening in India with annual skilled workers demand and supply in millions is projected to be 10.5-4.1 % in 2025, respectively.
Learning From The Peers
Mahatma Gandhi was one of the earliest proponents of technical education in free India, who also advocated linking curriculum with industrial needs. Of course, the needs may be different today, but the essence of making education work-integrated is still relevant. In Gandhiji’s words, “Taken as a whole, a vocation or vocations are the best mediums for the all-round development of a boy or a girl. Therefore, the syllabus should be woven around vocational training and the primary education thus conceived as a whole, is bound to be self-supporting (Wardha scheme of education)”.
Our efforts at rectifying the imbalance in our education system, through skill development process, find a deep connection with Gandhian principles of craft-centred education. Things we are trying to achieve today, like learning by doing, work-integrated learning, respect for manual skills, self-reliance through sustainable livelihoods – are concepts deeply ingrained in Mahatma Gandhi’ s emphasis on manual and productive work as integral to basic education. While using the term ‘skill’ in its widest sense, he believed in a continuous learning process and experimentation, an approach that he defined for himself as ‘practical idealism’.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has also emphasised upon the need to impart skills and ability to the youthful manpower in order to tackle global challenges. He has cautioned that unless we accomplish this task, the huge manpower availability would in itself become a challenge in the years to come.
Need For Skill Development
Skill is defined as the ability to do something well, and Skill development has become a buzzword for the 21st century. If India has to come up as the Human Resource Capital of the world, it needs to appropriately skill its youth bulge and convert this advantage to a dividend. India’s transformation to a diversified and internationally-competitive economy calls for a quick reorganisation of the skill development ecosystem. It requires redefining the relationship between education, employment, and skill development and may prove to be a significant milestone in India’s growth story. Skill development may act as a catalyst for ushering social equality, a step towards providing opportunities to all and a move towards eradication of poverty. It may lead to a better quality of life for a large chunk of the population and the well being of the industry.
Reflections On Skill Development
I possess an eclectic but interdisciplinary academic background. The experience gained through working in social and corporate sectors has helped me in developing an analytical and problem-solving approach. Insights into the project management, operational work, imparting training in various skill sets, as well as managing and monitoring the operations of various skill development centres, developed during the association with professional organisations have been the guiding forces behind the formation of my venture SWAN.
Deep understanding of the pain points of the students belonging to the economically weaker sections of the society, as well as their employers, led me to embark upon this start-up. I firmly believe that skill development is an issue that needs to be addressed in a comprehensive manner and calls for a concerted effort by the government, private players and the NGOs.
The concept of skill development includes increasing the confidence level of students through training/counselling sessions and linking the acquired skills to livelihood opportunities. This process also involves creating awareness among the youth in choosing the right vocational training course, work environment and the other relevant factors that will impact their lives.
Observations On Functioning Of Centres
The operation of the skill training institutes is a specialist job. Personal experience of the monitoring of the skill development centres has shown that the following aspects need critical consideration,
- Mobilising the Target Youth
It is essential to carefully screen the candidates for enrolment in the training institutes by looking into their desire to learn, become financially stable and independent. They should possess motivation, positive attitude and the urge to rise despite hardships.
Another point that needs attention is that the ineffective pitching style of the field staff, wrong selection of community group/location or lack of adequate branding material in the form of a canopy, pamphlets and mobilization kits often denies access to the right target audience.
- Counselling and Registration
Inadequate counselling of the candidate and their parents during mobilisation and at the time of registration has been noted to be a major cause of drop-outs out in between the training sessions. These drop-outs often turn up for placements after the training sessions are over without understanding the requirement of completing the module. It is also seen that the zero-fee based model does not attract the right candidature. Courses without any monetary commitment are taken for granted with no regular attendance and seriousness during the sessions.
Counselling embraces the philosophy that every individual has the right and the ability to make decisions for himself/herself. However in difficult times, when one is vulnerable, it is difficult to resolve issues by oneself resulting in helplessness. Involving and counselling parents at the time of enrolment/registration of candidates in any training programme has shown a positive impact. It has been observed that the students attend classes more regularly and the rate of drop-outs decreases. Application of parenting skills training (behavioural parent management training) helps parents learn how to use a system of rewards and consequences to change a child’s behaviour. Parents are taught to give immediate and positive feedback for behaviours they want to encourage and ignore or redirect behaviours that they want to discourage. Centres can help parents and families connect with others having similar problems and concerns. Groups can often meet regularly to share successes and failures which would lessen the chance of students dropping out from the course.
Sometimes there is a mismatch in the aspirations of the students who come for enrolments leading them to drop out of the course later on and also not opting for placements due to high salary expectations and a suitable profile. Many times the parents are not aware of the job opportunities which the students will get after completion of course due to lack of awareness. Sometimes, stereotypical thinking and patriarchal mindset prevailing in the communities become the cause for lower enrolment of the female offspring. Such situations can be resolved with proper counselling.
- Training and Content Delivery
Underqualified and inefficient trainers who are incapable of conducting the sessions are a big negative point. Such trainers fail to motivate the candidates who are mostly from the underprivileged section of the society and are not in a position to bring out any positive change in their mindset. Presence of such trainers is a big deterrent and one of the major causes of absenteeism and dropout cases. Sometimes, in order to complete the target number of enrolments underage (youth below the age group of 18 years) and overage candidates are enrolled. Such cases may create a problem at the time of placement. Such candidates, even after completion of the training program feel that they are not adequately equipped as per the industry standards.
- Industry Linkages for Job Placements
Establishing connections with the industry to achieve a regular inflow-outflow balance for placements need careful planning. This issue becomes significant on the count that India has more job-ready candidates than the job opportunities.
It has been observed that even after completion of the training programme, candidates are confused and unclear about the sector and the profile which would be best suitable for them. There are also aspiration vs expectation clashes (relating to the job being offered). Adaptation to the new environment after getting employment has been seen as a major hurdle. Besides the behavioural issues, the pay package, distance between the residence and workplace are seen as other commonly reported reasons for candidates leaving the jobs.
- Post Placement Concerns
A sudden change in the work environment (from informal to formal set up), workload, change of lifestyle, and migration from the home district are some of the critical reasons that often lead towards poor retention and a perpetual cause for concern for the employers. Thus, post-placement tracking and counselling creates a good synergy between the centre-employer-candidate and inculcates a mutual bond of trust. There is a dire need for a proper mentor-mentee connect and some kind of alumni meets where the success stories of the earlier candidates are told to the new students for motivation and encouragement. It is essential that the centres running the skill development courses should address these challenges for ensuring quality output.
- Understanding the Pain Points
Surveys conducted during mobilisation have shown that the biggest pain point of the youth from the underprivileged section of the society is their inability to progress in life due to lack of proper skill sets. The other major reasons as stated by them include low confidence levels, leading a life without any focus and direction and being unable to support their family. They wish to have a mentor/counsellor who can give some advice to them on achieving the right direction in life. Due to low education levels (most of them being 10thdropout or 12th qualified), avenues for reasonably good employment are not available to them. Thus, they wish to enrol to a training programme due to dissatisfaction with their existing job profile, to enhance their awareness about the jobs suitable for them or for gaining proper exposure of industry/company network. However, lack of quality avenues which can help them in improving their skill sets has also been expressed by them as an important reason
On the other hand, the biggest pain point of the employer is the issue of a high attrition rate. It arises mainly due to the inability of the youth to adapt to the new work culture besides the issues on the aspiration v/s expectation, salary, uncordial relationship between employer and employee and lack of industry-specific skillset standards in the employees.
Thus the skill development initiative needs a more meticulous implementation approach. The current model requires a thorough re-examination and plugging of the gaps for providing a sustainable source of livelihood to a large set of the population.
My Venture On Skill Development
SWAN (Skilled Workforce Advancing Nation) LIVELIHOOD aims at enhancing the skill sets of the youth (age group 18-28 years) from the underprivileged sections of the society. Its main focus is towards improving the quality of youthful workforce for retail sector through innovative training programmes and specialised counselling sessions conducted by the experienced instructors. Specially designed training programmes at SWAN integrate all disciplines into the classroom in such a way that learning is driven through student inquiry, interactive dialogues, industry exposure and cognitive empathy. These training sessions are created with a view to enhance the overall awareness of the groups towards work along with the improvement in the skill-sets so as to align the aspirations of the students with the objectives of the training session. SWAN intends to develop stable workforces leading to a higher employee satisfaction rate as the net outcome of the training. It envisages providing a continuous mentor-mentee support to the youth gaining employment. Keeping in view the overall well being of the target groups in life, the post-placement assistance seeks to connect them to forthcoming opportunities so that they can do well in professional life. It is endeavoured that such an effort by SWAN would enable the participants to realise their full potential in becoming better leaders.
This venture will seek to impart knowledge as signified by the first name SWAN (sacred bird Hans in Hindi; scientific name Cygnus), that is linked to the reigning deity of education, Goddess Saraswati. A profound liking for this majestic waterfowl species for its effortless swimming and flight with slow wingbeats has developed through the passion for bird watching. Intelligence and the capability to attain soaring heights are the other attributes of this avian species that would provide the motivation for attaining higher goals judiciously. The free-flowing nature of the Hans in water and air would symbolise the expertise and a conflict-free existence. The affection towards nature for picking up this appropriate name emanates from following my father who is a polar scientist and prompts me further to relate the SWAN symbol of the Centre to my own name Meghna, a major tributary of the Ganges River system.
SWAN LIVELIHOOD would like to spread its wings to become a Centre of Excellence in skill development. It would also seek to work on reversing the trend of migration of the educated youth from the hill regions, by developing skill sets suitable for generating employment in those terrains.
The Bird Connect
The venture name has appropriately emerged from my interest in nature that dates back to the school days when I used to paint landscapes and get appreciation through awards at various state and national levels. The curiosity to know more about nature started manifesting through my avid interest in bird watching and avian photography. It further developed into acquiring the position of the State Coordinator for Delhi/NCR for an annual Campus Bird Count Event. Bright colours and smooth flights of the birds had always fascinated and inspired me as a child artist in giving shapes to their various forms. Their calls instilled a deep musical sense in me. However, the childhood memories could no longer continue in adulthood with the brazen facts of vanishing household sparrows, vultures facing extinction and so many birds giving amiss to their roosting sites due to changing habitats. The prevailing situation provides further impetus for bringing in more awareness about the well being of the avian species for a balanced ecosystem and sustainable development.